LA, NY, Chicago airports to be ready for big Airbus = = = = Tuesday May 18, 2:08 PM EDT = (Adds details on New York, Chicago airports, changes dateline, previous L= ONDON) SEATTLE, May 18 (Reuters) - Major airports in Los Angeles, New York and C= hicago plan to be ready for the mammoth Airbus (EAD) A380 double decker p= assenger jet in late 2006, their operators said on Tuesday, playing down = concerns raised by airline Virgin Atlantic [VA.UL] a day earlier. Airports need to prepare double-decker passenger ramps and reinforce road= s and bridges to handle A380 flights that could carry as many as 800 pass= engers, changes that will cost billions of dollars in some cases. "We are confident that LAX (Los Angeles International Airport) will be re= ady to accommodate the A380 with the highest standards of safety when the= first airline begins using the aircraft at LAX in late 2006," operator L= os Angeles World Airports said in a statement. = That is several months after Singapore Airlines (SIAL) is due to take del= ivery of the first A380 in the second quarter of 2006. On Monday, Virgin Atlantic said it would postpone taking delivery of six = A380s, citing concern that LAX would not be ready and saying it needed ti= me to modify the all-new aircraft's cabin. Virgin said on Tuesday, following the statement by the operator of Los An= geles airport, that there was no change in its statement. Los Angeles is a key destination for the airlines and lessors which have = ordered the long-haul plane. Korean Air (003490) hopes to use the planes on its Seoul-Los Angeles rout= e, for example, to serve L.A.'s large Korean-American population. Other practical routes would connect major cities like Tokyo and London w= ith New York, Chicago and Miami. As many as 14 U.S. airports are preparing to accommodate the A380, includ= ing New York's John F. Kennedy International, which has embraced the mega= jet as a means to ease congested air traffic and reduce noise pollution w= ith its quieter engines. "We need to adjust not by adding flights but by adding bigger aircraft," = said Pasquale DiFulco, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and= New Jersey. Last month the agency predicted the A380 would bring 1,040 jobs and $82 m= illion in annual economic activity at JFK. At Chicago's O'Hare, officials also expect to be ready for the A380, said= spokeswoman Monique Bond. "We are looking into and making plans to be able to accept the aircraft,"= Bond said. Airbus Chief Commercial Officer John Leahy told reporters at a forum in T= okyo on Tuesday that no other airline had asked for a delay. "Sometimes they ask for a month or two but nothing substantial," Leahy sa= id. Eleven airlines and lessors have ordered the A380, which seats 555 passen= gers in its standard configuration, supplanting rival Boeing Co's (BA) lo= ng-serving 747 jumbo jet with 416 seats as the world's largest jetliner. Airbus is owned by EADS, which has an 80 percent stake, and Britain's BAE= Systems (BA), which owns the rest. Improvements in Los Angeles and other cities have been delayed by factors= ranging from tight budgets to legal and political hurdles to major new p= rojects as well as security concerns in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, h= ijack attacks. (Additional reporting by Edwina Gibbs in Tokyo and Jason N= eely in London) = =A92004 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS